I’m honestly pretty bummed, because I had been looking forward to this one for so long. I absolutely loved book one, Shield of Sparrows, and went into this sequel with very high expectations. This one just didn’t hit me the same way. Reading it felt a little like when a favorite TV show suddenly shifts its focus and starts setting up a spinoff, while the parts you actually came for are pushed to the side. I can see the ambition here, and I know this book really worked for a lot of readers, but that shift kept it from landing for me.
The biggest hurdle for me was the introduction of a new point of view character, Caspia. I spent a lot of time wondering who she was and why I was supposed to be so invested in her story. If she was always meant to play such an integral role, I really wish she had been introduced in the first book. I was deeply attached to the emotional core of book one, and her chapters often felt less like added depth and more like interruptions. Instead of pulling me in further, they sometimes pulled me right out.
The romance also felt more distant this time around. That seems like a very intentional choice, but I missed the intimacy and emotional momentum that made the first book so compelling. That same spinoff feeling lingered here too. I wanted more time grounded in the relationship I had already invested in, not just hints at future payoff.
I also want to be fair and acknowledge that format may have played a role in my experience. I read Shield of Sparrows as an ebook and let my imagination set the tone. For this book, I switched to the audiobook. While the narration and production are clearly well done and widely praised, they just didn’t work for me. My imagination was apparently much kinder to these characters than the narrators’ interpretations, and that disconnect made it harder to stay immersed, especially during slower, exposition heavy sections. Side note: Deep, low voices might be sexy in real life, but they can be surprisingly hard to hear and follow in an audiobook.
Despite my disappointment, I will absolutely be reading book three. The foundation of this series is still strong, and I’m hopeful the final installment brings the focus back closer to the emotional heart that made the first volume so special. I just really hope it ends up feeling a little more like Shield of Sparrows again.
★★★½☆
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